While none of these have much to do with the major problems causing issues in negotiations, they’re still interesting.

Free agency being moved to right after the season ends takes a page out of Major League Baseball’s book as their method is somewhat similar. It also moves the start of free agency off of July 1, a national holiday in Canada. That’s something a lot of players, agents, and executives would be ecstatic about.

Cutting out the ability to dump guys in the minors to save on cap space is one that’s been discussed before. Dealing away cap space to help move guys with monster deals will help make sure guys with NHL deals can stay out of the minors.

During the last two summers, free agent goalies have needed luck almost as much as skill to find the right job and a decent contract.

Ilya Bryzgalov is a good – maybe very good – goalie, but he’s also a lucky one when you compare his fortunes to the one-year, $1.5 million deal another good (maybe very good) goalie Tomas Vokoun pulled down. Meanwhile, two goalies seemingly got their deals based on name recognition; how else would you explain J.S. Giguere getting two years as a backup and Jose Theodore being named the Florida Panthers’ No. 1 guy? Mike Smith received a not-particularly-well-earned starting job with the Phoenix Coyotes largely on the strength of familiarity; Dave Tippett was his coach during his years with the Dallas Stars.

Of course, the fortune of familiarity didn’t smile upon the man Smith backed up: Marty Turco. For the second summer in a row, Turco isn’t getting his way in free agency. While last time he was arguably the one at fault for demanding too much money in a buyers’ market, this time around it might come down to him having little to sell.

Perhaps the GM consensus is that the 36-year-old goalie just doesn’t “have it” anymore. He hasn’t made a playoff start since 2007-08, the last time he had a record above .500. Aside from a respectable overall season in 09-10, Turco’s been putting up the kind of numbers that will make it tough to get any NHL job.

That being said, Turco has something that worked better for Giguere and Theodore: name recognition. Could that be enough for a training camp tryout or two-way contract? There are plenty of teams who might benefit from that setup. The Anaheim Ducks cannot be too comfortable about Jonas Hiller’s health. As Leahy points out, the Columbus Blue Jackets have some doubts in net. The Edmonton Oilers have a lot of options already, but are any of them all that promising?

While one could foresee an opportunity here and there for Turco, it wouldn’t be that shocking if he retired either. If it comes to that, he produced a nice career, even if it might end with a thud.

The offseason has been like a giant game of musical chairs for goaltenders around the NHL. There are midseason acquisitions who will be asked to carry the mail from the beginning of the season like Craig Anderson in Ottawa and Dwayne Roloson in Tampa Bay. There were plenty of netminders like J.S. Giguere, Brian Elliott, Mathieu Garon, Brian Boucher, Peter Budaj, and Jeff Deslauriers who found new homes in free agency that are expected to provide adequate back-up goaltending when the starters needs a break. Even Ondrej Pavelec will be trying to impress a new city and fanbase and he’s on the same team. Thank you True North.

Most importantly, there are teams who have handed the keys to the net to newcomers. Sure, there were teams that strengthened their goaltending depth, but there are a few teams that are depending on new goaltenders to carry them to success on a nightly basis next season. Their new teams’ success heavily depends on their ability to adjust to a new city, new fans, new system, and increased expectations.

Each goaltender faces a different set of circumstances that will contribute to the pressure in their new locales. Maybe the team expects to step up and be a playoff contender. Maybe their new team paid a king’s ransom to acquire them in the offseason. Maybe their new team expects the Stanley Cup and nothing less. Each will walk into a different situation—but they all face demands to succeed.

Here are five of the goaltenders who face the most pressure to perform for their new teams next season.

Ilya Bryzgalov (Philadelphia Flyers): Any discussion regarding pressure for goaltenders begins in Philadelphia with Ilya Bryzgalov. By signing the 31-year goaltender to a 9-year, $51 million deal (and other smaller decisions), the team was forced to part ways with Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and even Kris Versteeg. The team that went to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final two years ago and was the second best team in the Eastern Conference last season basically blew up the team to build around their new goaltender. The result: the Flyers have more new faces than Bobby Knight in a postgame press conference and there’s great anticipation for Bryzgalov between the pipes next season.

“I want to be the guy who can carry this team. I don’t know what else to say. I want to help this team win the Stanley Cup because people in Philadelphia and the organization have waited long enough.”

At least he understands the expectations in Philly. In Phoenix, a great regular season and a playoff appearance were enough for to keep most fans happy. Next season, fans will expect a great regular season, a playoff berth, and much more.

Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche): Varlamov has a completely different set of expectations than Bryzgalov—yet still faces plenty of pressure. When the Avalanche gave up both a first and second round pick for the talented former 1st round pick, they loudly stated that they expected him to be the goaltender of the future for their rebuilding team. He’ll need to prove to the fans that he was worth the huge price GM Greg Sherman paid for him at July 1st or the jokes will be coming faster than you can say Phil Kessel. If Varlamov is only an average goaltender and the Avs struggle again next season, the Avalanche could have traded away one of the top picks of next year’s draft. It’ll be Varlamov’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Tomas Vokoun (Washington Capitals): The Washington Capitals have been the best regular season team in the Eastern Conference over the last two seasons—including a Presidents’ Trophy as best regular season team in the NHL. Yet in both years, the team fell apart in the postseason and only managed one series win combined. One of the big question marks surrounding the team (rightfully or wrongly) has been the absence of a veteran goaltender that could carry the Caps deep into the playoffs. Jose Theodore played all of two playoff games in 2008-09 and the rest have been started by guys under the age of 23. When Vokoun fell into Washington’s lap on July 2, he wasn’t expressly given the starting job—but it certainly sounds like it’s his to lose. Over the majority of his career in Nashville and Florida, Vokoun has proven that he’s one of the most underrated goaltenders in the NHL. If he can perform at the highest level next season with the Caps, everyone will know his name.

Mike Smith (Phoenix Coyotes): Smith may have the most thankless job ahead of him this season. One of the least known people on this list, he’ll be faced with the challenge of replacing one of the best goaltenders over the last two years (Bryzgalov) on a team that has made the playoffs in consecutive years. The consensus opinion is that without elite goaltending by Bryzgalov, Phoenix would have struggled to make the playoffs in either season. This year, fans will find out exactly how important he was to the team—and if Smith is able to fill the large void left by the new Flyers goaltender. Smith knows people will measure him against his predecessor:

“The main thing is I know I’m capable of playing really well. I know ‘Bryz’ did some outstanding things in Phoenix and has had a great career so far and will probably continue to do so in Philly, but I’m not going there with the expectation of surpassing him… I’m just going to go there and take it one game at a time, play up to my capability, and if I do that, good things are going to happen for me.”

Sports cliché’s aside, Smith has the perfect outlook going into his new gig. He’ll just have to go into Phoenix and take advantage of his opportunity as the team’s starter. If Smith can recapture the spark that intrigued the Lightning enough to include him in the Brad Richards trade, the Coyotes may have a guy who could help ease the pain of losing their franchise goaltender.

Jose Theodore (Florida Panthers): The Florida Panthers have certainly made a splash this offseason as Dale Tallon has worked to transform the team from one with potential and prospects to a team with plenty of proven NHL players. As part of his rebuilding plan, he hoped to re-sign Tomas Vokoun to go with all of the new faces. When it was apparent that Vokoun was looking for more money than the Panthers were willing to offer, he quickly moved to Plan B and picked up free agent Jose Theodore. Last season, Theodore had a .916 save percentage and 2.71 goals against average for a poor Minnesota Wild team; this year, he’ll fight with Scott Clemmensen for the starter’s role. The team went out and made plenty of acquisitions this year and expects to fight for the playoffs—but if the goaltending falls apart, there’s no way their team will be able to take the next step from cellar-dweller to playoff team. Theodore’s performance will have a lot to do with the Panthers’ success next season.

But everything out of Florida is pointing towards a new direction for the struggling Panthers. There are new jerseys, a new head coach, new AHL affiliate—and now a new organizational philosophy. Signing Campbell is the first step for the Panthers as they transition in the NHL financial landscape from seller to a buyer. Instead of being a place that free agents avoid like the plague, GM Dale Tallon and the Panthers hope to be creating a desirable environment for players around the NHL. As Tallon told the Miami Sun-Sentinel, convincing Campbell to waive his no-trade clause was the first step in his plan this summer:

“This is a very important week for us,” Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon said. “[We went through] a lot of pain last year to get ourselves in this position. We earned the right now to do what we need to do to get this franchise turned around.
“These moves we’re doing now will help us sell guys to come on July 1.”

Assistant GM Mike Santos echoed Tallon’s notion that the two-time All-Star’s decision to come South with his $35.7 million price tag, could turn Campbell into a pied piper to other coveted free agents.

“What’s really important in this whole thing is you now see players want to play for the Panthers,” Santos said. “It started to happen last year; we’re seeing it here at the draft that Florida has become a destination not only because [of the sunshine], but because they think we can win.”

There’s no doubt the Panthers have plenty of money to spend in the offseason. While they are about $42 million under the salary cap, there’s a more important number at play right now. Going into free agency, the Panthers are $26 million under the salary cap FLOOR. That’s right—they need to find a way to creatively spend $26 million before the beginning of next season. Needless to say, they’re going to be throwing around money like a millionaire at the $.99 store.

“[Tallon] did a lot of good things in Chicago,” Campbell said. “I’ve already talked to a lot of ex-teammates who have said ‘get me there. I want to be there too.’ Dale will make this a very attractive place to play. We’ll get this organization going in the right direction, get the fans back.”

Before they can start attracting outsiders, they’ll have to make some internal decisions on the players that are already in Florida. From the sounds of it, they have already decided to cut ties with Nicolas Bergfors and are working to bring fellow RFAs Mike Santorelli and Shawn Matthias back next season. They’ll make a run to keep unrestricted free agent goaltender Tomas Vokoun in the mix—but if their unsuccessful they may want to give hot-shot prospect Jacob Markstrom a look in training camp.

In addition all of the cap space the Panthers have to play with, the team has stockpiled great prospects over the last two years. Erik Gudbranson, Jonathan Huberdeau, Quinton Howden, Nick Bjugstad, and Drew Shore all have the potential to be good NHL players when they’re called up to the big club. Now the team is changing gears and kicking into the second phase of their rebuild: acquire proven veterans.

The team has confirmed they are looking to acquire some new players and Campbell and explained that players are eager to join the team. We’ll see if they can start putting it all together.